Heidi Asbjornsen
Professor of Ecosystem Ecology and Ecohydrology
University of New Hampshire
Email: Heidi.asbjornsen@unh.edu
Website: https://www.ecohydro.sr.unh.edu/; https://colsa.unh.edu/person/heidi-asbjornsen;
Research interests: My primary research interests focus on assessing the resilience of diverse ecosystems to climate change (especially drought) and the capacity to enhance the adaptive capacity of ecosystems through management and policy tools, with the goal of enhancing the sustainable production of ecosystem services that are critical to support both healthy ecosystems and societal well-being.
Serita Frey
Professor, Soil Microbial Ecology
University of New Hampshire
Email: serita.frey@unh.edu
Website: http://unh.edu/freylab/
Research interests: Our research focuses on how human activities are impacting terrestrial ecosystems, with an emphasis on soil biota and nutrient cycling processes. We are specifically interested in how anthropogenic stressors (e.g., climate change, nitrogen deposition, agricultural management, invasive species) affect the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities and microbial-mediated carbon and nitrogen cycles. We work at the interface between ecosystem science, microbial ecology and global change biology, combining microbiological methods with stable isotope analysis and a variety of soil physical and chemical approaches to examine structure-function linkages.
Jessica Ernakovich
Assistant Professor, Microbial Ecology (with specialization in tundra systems)
The University of New Hampshire
Email: jessica.ernakovich@unh.edu
Website: https://mypages.unh.edu/jernakovich
Research interests: Our lab aims to understand how disturbance from environmental change—ranging from agricultural management to permafrost thaw—affects the function of ecosystems, with a specific emphasis on greenhouse gas production, soil organic matter production, and nitrogen mineralization from soils. We achieve this through collaborative science investigating how microbial communities interact with and function in their physical, chemical, and biological environment using a mixture of science tools—including high-throughput sequencing of nucleic acids and tracing of chemical transformations with stable isotopes—in a team that fosters a passion for discovery through support and inclusion of diverse people, backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas.
Wilfred Wollheim
Associate Professor, Ecosystem Ecology (emphasis on aquatic)
The University of New Hampshire
Email: wil.wollheim@unh.edu
website: https://wsag.unh.edu/
Research Interests: My research centers on the ability of aquatic ecosystems at watershed scales (i.e. river networks) to regulate downstream material fluxes and water quality. Areas of interest include the fate of anthropogenic nitrogen inputs to surface waters, the contribution of river networks to carbon cycling, and the fate of macro and micro-plastics. I particularly emphasize how land use, climate, and hydrological changes affect these processes using both field and modeling approaches.
Jeff Garnas
Associate Professor, Forest Ecosystem Health
Email: jeff.garnas@unh.edu
website: http://mypages.unh.edu/garnaslab
Research Interests: My research focuses on understanding how ecological interactions structure forest ecosystems and influence resiliency. I am particularly interested in exploring how these interactions change in the face of anthropogenic climate change and as a consequence of biological invasion. I use a wide variety of tools to address key questions of relevance to population and community ecology of forests, including experimental and observational field studies, simulation modeling, and molecular/genomic methods. My work to date has primarily taken place in native and plantation forests of North America, South Africa, and Central America.
Tom Safford
Associate Professor of Sociology
University of New Hampshire
Email: Tom.Safford@unh.edu
Website: https://cola.unh.edu/person/thomas-safford
Research Interests: I am an environmental sociologist whose research focus on 1) the organizational dimensions of water and environmental management, 2) social factors affecting environmental attitudes and beliefs, and 3) the role of different types of science, scientists, and expertise in shaping natural resource management. I have conducted research on social-environmental concerns in New England and the U.S. Pacific Northwest as well as in Brazil and Ecuador in South America. A current focus for me is investigating how social, economic, and ecological data are collected, integrated, and applied to inform environmental decision making.
Catherine Ashcraft
Assistant Professor
University of New Hampshire, Environmental Policy and Planning
Email: catherine.ashcraft@unh.edu
Website: https://mypages.unh.edu/epps
Research interests: I am interested in the human dimensions of ecological systems, particularly in how we can negotiate and design policies for managing freshwater and climate systems to be more just and sustainable. Recent collaborative research from my lab focuses on decision-making about dams in New England, decision-making about payment for hydrological services programs in Veracruz, Mexico, and implementing justice in climate adaptation policies.
Bill McDowell
Professor
University of New Hamsphire, Environmental Science
Email: bill.mcdowell@unh.edu
Website: Full profile: FindScholars@UNH
Research Interests: Research in the McDowell lab focuses on understanding controls on biogeochemical cycles in streams, forests, and watersheds. Specifically, we study long-term changes in the water quality of forested, suburban, and urban watersheds in both temperate and tropical biomes. Our primary long-term study sites include the Lamprey River and other suburban watersheds in southern New Hampshire, the Luquillo Experimental Forest and urban sites in Puerto Rico, and forested watersheds in New England, the Czech Republic, and Siberia. Understanding the impact of people on water quality, especially impacts on the nitrogen cycle, is a long-term goal in many of our research projects. Primary funding comes from the National Science Foundation, the USGS, the USDA, and other Federal agencies.
